In the 290 years of the foundation of the Canton of Spaniards of the pure and clean conception of Montalbán.
Montalbán is a small town located in the high valleys of western Carabobo in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
There is in this small town, a legend about a Giant Serpent, this has been named in some stories of Dr. Antonio Osorio, Chronicler of Montalban; and even some of our longest-lived countrymen mention it.
In this same writing there are some important facts about the church of Montalbán, symbols that I invite you to observe if you visit the church.
Back in the 1590s, an expedition set out from the newly named Puerto Cabello heading for areas of Tocuyo, on their way they had to pass through the mountain peaks from where the Capa and Agua Clara rivers descend, known as what later It would be the Hacienda El Alto belonging to the Count of Tovar and today as Canoabo next to the Agua Dulce river where there were some Cumanagoto natives.
They had to go down the slope that faces west, the idea was to continue along the mountain range of the mountain range that overlooks the capotillo hill; However, the road becomes very difficult, in the group of Spaniards, among whom was Juan de Pimentel, retreated to the lower parts looking for a valley that they see in the distance, they followed the mountain range and went down through a wooded place, thick, one of the most intricate and on the banks of a river with crystal clear waters, a small group of peaceful natives were found, with a peculiar characteristic they were short, their height did not reach a meter and a half, they spent a few days with them before resuming the March.
However, they noticed that some of these had necklaces with gold nuggets that of course caught the attention of the Spanish, the natives led them through the forest to a grotto that is located in the ridge of a hill behind an area known Today as Marquero, this cave was known by the aborigines as Huhí or serpent and it indicates an underground river that descends towards the valley of the "uñan yuaa" bright eye, which today is known as Montalbán.
From what has been known, or has passed from generation to generation, it seems that this crack gives access to the current of an underground river and where there is gold in abundance; the huhí serpent, bears the river, extends from the mountain to the valley; up to a point indicated by the aborigines as the “uñan” eye of the serpent; this point, sacred to those natives, seems to have a concentration of high energies, and at certain times of the day you could see luminous columns that the ayamanes and jirajaras attributed to the uñan huhí tegui or uñan tub (eyes of the serpent)
During this trip the Spaniards managed to make a rough map of the site using the most important hills and rivers as a guide and drew a snake whose tail is located at the entrance of the cave or grotto and its head in the valley, part of its mission was to traverse and go making maps of the land, describing its quality and possibilities of exploitation. (See attached map)
The valley was not crossed again until almost seventeen hundred, when an expedition of several Spaniards, including Cruz de Valladares, Ochoa y Gresada, Gómez Pinto, Tortolero, Salvatierra, Blandín, Nuñez and Sesaro del Castillo, practically all of them Sevillians linked to the Calatrava Order, which had been influenced by the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, who with the map prepared by Francisco de Olmedo and Juan de Pimentel, relocated the grotto and the position indicated in the valley .
(According to some documents there were 12 different surnames)
Since then, the point was marked as the center and origin of the future city, in the place where the head of the serpent would be, at that point it is said that Gresada erected the first palm chapel, later the first clay chapel would be raised and they conceived the bases of what would be the town, in seventeen hundred and thirty-two (1732) granted permission for the first Church...
Currently, the question remains whether the point known as the head of the serpent is located in the old church, where the house of the Nazarene currently exists, or if, on the contrary, it corresponds to the point of the main altar of the current church, which began to be build about seventeen hundred and sixty-seven (1767).
What is clear is that when the second church was built, the town of Españoles de la Pura y Limpia Concepción de Montalbán was conceived and planned so that it would become one of the most important cities in the territory that Yaracuy now comprises, later in In more recent times the canton became part of Carabobo, even so it would be the second city after Valencia del Rey...
Fantasy or Reality? You simply have to make a comparison between the churches of all the nearby towns and cities, for example, the church of Canoabo before that of Montalbán is smaller and does not have the characteristics of the latter, nor that of Nirgüa, which also dates from previous years, even the first church of San Felipe was smaller and less adorned, not to mention the later ones, that of Bejuma is newer, it is larger but it does not have the lordship of the church of Montalban, especially in height, only the cathedral of Valencia and that of Nueva Segovia in Barquisimeto are comparable to a certain extent.
To conclude, it is said that as a result of the importance that Montalbán would have, being one of the first cities planned by descendants of the Templars in Venezuela, a relic was brought from Toledo Spain, the valuable cargo would have been placed in some important part of the church , some say the bottom of the Clock Tower.
The secret is in the symbols, in fact outside and inside the church you can see Templar signs such as the Floor Plan of the Second Church of Montalban, where we find the shape of the Latin Cross, also in the sacred rectangle of the Temple, the dome and the two towers are formed on the octagon, the Templar sacred number, the columns of the Choir, the High Altar and the communion altar of the Church, a shape known as the Cruz del Temple is drawn, the two frontal slits, the dimensions proportional to pi , in the same way in the internal part and although some were covered by masonry, you can still get Paté or Patada crosses, the decorations have a fleur de liz in their design, and even on one of its walls you can see a compass with a G in the middle.
Important detail, below the main altar (Sacta Sanctorun), at a certain time of day, the light crosses forming beams that point to the corners of a rectangle proportional to a tabernacle.
The dome of the same sanctuary has certain details that denote the Templar influence, although it is known that it is later, there are even those who say that there are some tunnels that pass under the church.
Whoever has read a writing about a cross that forms the town and whose center is the church clock tower, will agree with me that there are quite a few points that attract attention that go from chance to causality.
I look forward to continuing this investigation.
Cecilio Cesar, 2021
